‘It is a lesson that many actors never learn. But you have got to have it, and the strength to hold it.’ (An Orderly Man, 239) Between takes, he would often distance himself to control the energy and stay in role until it was time to release it on screen. During the filming of The Damned Bogarde spent hours talking about acting to a young Charlotte Rampling, who recalls his counsel ‘to have “self discipline” while waiting for “those few moments when you have to be supremely on form…You also have to know how to let go of that self-control for those moments.” Dirk taught me about that.’ Letting go after disciplined rehearsal was a plus in Darling, he remembered:

‘In Darling, we learned all the lines, rehearsed all our movements and directions, and then just before the take the director said: “Forget all about the lines. You know what you’ve got to say. You know what your moves are and where the lighting is.” So we did. I think it worked wonderfully well. Films are a very disciplined thing, really, and there isn’t much chance for this sort of thing. Darling worked well because a lot of it was improvisation. And a lot of the charm and magic of Julie was her improvisation.’